“Not good, but it could be worse.”
“Um, sir… it probably is. General Hague told me in no uncertain terms to… um… leave you and the others behind, sir.”
“So you said, screw him.”
“Basically, yes.”
“That was an incredibly stupid and irresponsible thing to do, Mr. Corwin. However, I can’t thank you enough. Just don’t do it again.”
Corwin smiled. “No, sir.”
Not for the first time, Sheridan was struck by how young his commander and executive officer was. Too young to fight back on Earth, he’d been one of hundreds of thousands of refugees who’d escaped from the Battle of Mars just after the Line, where Sheridan had launched his berserk attack on the Grey Council. The difference was that none of the other refugees had made their way up to the bridge and taken over the helm when the lieutenant manning it had been killed. Sheridan had appointed Corwin second lieutenant on the spot, and ever since Corwin had risen almost as fast as Sheridan himself. One of many attached to his coat tails. One of many who would probably die a lonely, pointless death on an alien world.
“I do have another question, David. A more… personal one. How do you know Miss Ivanova?”
“Susan? She was in Earthforce, sir. She joined back on Earth and was away on a training run at Ganymede when the Minbari took Earth. Somehow she made her way to Proxima Three and managed to get attached to General Franklin’s personal staff. I met her there when the Babylon was being refitted and redesigned a few years ago. The Resistance Government insisted I be posted somewhere they could keep an eye on me. I don’t think they trusted me then, and they certainly won’t after this.”
“I’ll deal with that.”
“Thank you, sir. Anyway, I met Susan and… well… things got… um…”
“I’m a married man, David. I understand.”
“Thank you, sir.” Corwin was blushing. “Then I was posted back here, and Susan was sent out on secret missions for General Hague. They called it the Babylon Project – after this ship. I don’t know what she was doing exactly, but we kept in touch and met up whenever we could, but… well… she was on some sort of secret mission out on the Rim. We heard a report that her shuttle had crashed and that everyone on board had died. I was… quite… upset about it, sir.”
“Yes, I remember. God, why didn’t I see anything back then? Why did I never notice her… or you?”
“I think we were all a little mad back then, sir. Madness takes a while to heal.”
“Sometimes it never heals, Mr. Corwin.” Sheridan rose and left the room. He was tired and he still had more questions than answers. He wanted some sleep before he arrived at Vega 7. Sleep and some answers. And his daughter…
It wasn’t his daughter waiting for him when he opened the door. “How? How did you get in here?”
Susan smiled. “Just a knack.” She was lying on his bed. Absolutely naked. “Are you coming in or not?” Sheridan could only stand in his doorway and stare, Anna almost superimposing herself on the sight before him. He caught the faintest hint of orange blossom.
He closed his eyes, and silently wept.
Then he took a step forward and the door closed behind him.
“Come on, Warren, hang in there.”
“Hurts… Doc…”
“Damn! I wish I… I wish I could remember what to do. I only stopped being a doctor a few years ago. Warren!”
“How much can we do for him, Stephen? You can see that wound.”
“I won’t let him die, Neeoma.”
“You might have to.”
“Any word from the Babylon yet?”
“No.”
“Come on, Warren. Don’t you die on me. Don’t you dare!”
“Who are you?”
Susan smiled. “That’s a very philosophical question. Since when did you become a Vorlon?”
Sheridan was pacing slowly up and down his room while Susan was lying casually on the bed, smiling, looking more at home here than he did. And why not? He was hardly ever here. When he was on the Babylon, he was always either on the bridge, or in the ready room, or flying a Starfury. Susan looked so at home in his bed. That’s Anna’s place. She belongs there.
“You know what I mean. Why? I mean… I don’t understand any of this.”
“You didn’t need to understand anything half an hour ago.”
“I do now.”
“Ah. You’ve been talking to David, I gather. A nice boy, and what we had together was fun, but that’s all it was – fun. I always knew he’d go far. A commander, eh? Well, well, well. Still… I’m changed now. I’ve been different ever since I arrived on Z’ha’dum.”
“Z’ha’dum? The base of operations of your… friends. What are they? Aliens? Humans? I saw a bit of what hit Delenn, and that was nothing I’d ever seen before.”
“They’re aliens. And I wouldn’t advise trying to pronounce their name, unless you can speak Welsh of course. It’s ten thousand letters long.” She paused, and drew in a deep breath. “I’m not sure how to explain this to you. They’re old, very old, and they’re powerful, but… all they want to do is live in peace. The planet my shuttle crashed on to – Z’ha’dum – it’s their homeworld, and a very holy place for them. They worship something there – I don’t know what.
“Anyway, my friends… they have a long-standing grudge with the Minbari. All my friends want to do is live in peace, but the Minbari won’t let them. I don’t know why, but I guess the Vorlons have something to do with it. A thousand years ago, my friends tried to return to Z’ha’dum after having been driven away. The Minbari objected, and went so far as to attack Z’ha’dum, with the help of the Vorlons and a few other long-dead races. My friends were forced to flee, but they left a few behind, hidden from the Minbari. I sort of… attracted their attention when I crashed on their heads. They’re very friendly actually. Or, well, they were once I’d explained the situation. They want to return to Z’ha’dum and live there, but there’s the Minbari and the Vorlons to consider. So, they’re offering help to us because they know what we’re going through. They don’t want to have to destroy the Minbari, but they’ll do it because all they want to do is live alone, in peace, on their world. Is that so much to ask?”
“The Minbari are one thing,” Sheridan said. “What about the Vorlons? If your… friends get involved, then we might get the Vorlons annoyed with us. I do not want that to happen. It would make the Line look like a church social.”
“Exactly. Which is why my friends can’t lend their support openly. They’re having to move slowly, but they’ll do what they can to help.”
“Thank you.”
“I thought you’d be pleased. These are the first decent allies we’ve had since this whole thing started. So what if they can’t come out in the open? They’re willing to help us, Captain. Maybe even help us get revenge. We can’t get Earth back, and you can’t get your daughter back, but we can still make those monsters that did it to us pay!”
Something suddenly clicked in Sheridan’s mind and he turned to Ivanova. “What did you want? If they asked you the same question that you asked me, then what did you want?”
Ivanova smiled.
His link beeped. Cursing silently, he went to his desk and picked it up. “Yes?”
“We’ve reached Vega Seven, sir. We’re out of hyperspace. The jump engines are down, though, I’m afraid. Again. Our repairs weren’t complete, and it’ll take a while to get them back on line again, so we can get to Proxima. But ah… that isn’t the worst of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve scanned the planet, sir. Out of a total population of over four hundred thousand Narns and humans, we have a grand total of five life-signs.”